


Ashes and Dust Were What Made Man

by angelsfallingdeancatch



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, F/M, M/M, POV Malia Tate, Past Stiles Stilinski/Malia Tate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 17:40:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11385144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelsfallingdeancatch/pseuds/angelsfallingdeancatch
Summary: Malia and the pack have grown apart. After being left behind to finish summer school she grows close with another pack and goes to Maryland to join them. During a road trip they bump into her past. How will Malia deal with two packs and a new big bad?





	1. Chapter 1

Malia tapped her pen absentmindedly, her teacher’s voice phasing out as she took in her classroom. There were only three students in her math class, and Malia thought it was silly that this counted as a class at all. She pursed her lips and began putting pressure on her pen with her finger. She thought of Stiles and Scott goofing off, of Kira and Lydia attempting to pay attention and not laugh. She thought of how none of them were here this summer, how they were all busy getting their new college lives together. 

Malia had never thought about college, hell, she hadn’t believed she’d get into senior year with her friends. Now it was looming on the horizon, and all her friends lived in new worlds. 

Zi, a Chinese girl, caught her eye and Malia smiled at her, though it was small and sad. Zi tilted her head, her blonde bob brushing her chin as she whispered, “Chin up, buttercup.”  
Their teacher’s monotonous voice continued to go ignored. Maybe Malia should be more worried and be taking more notes because Lydia wasn’t there to help her. She and Zi would compare notes later, she thought, and her pen snapped in half. Ink flew everywhere and the boy named Steven yelled in surprise and her teacher got spurts of black on his suit. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Malia said while her ink covered hand threw the useless pen in the garbage. 

“Go get cleaned up,” Mr. Warbler snapped, trying in vain to wipe up the ink from his vest.

Zi stood up in a flurry of pink skirts and told Mr. Warbler that she was going to with Malia. He grunted and didn’t argue. The girls ran to the bathroom, Zi giggling at Malia. It was a welcome relief to the silence that reigned since summer started. The school felt alien, the halls too empty. 

Malia tried not to think about being left behind. 

Zi bumped her shoulder against Malia’s and handed her a wet paper towel. Malia had never expected the new girl to reach out to her. Zi seemed to keep to herself, was easily annoyed and didn’t talk much to anyone. Malia had heard that Zi moved from Maryland. She couldn’t imagine that long of a move. For all of June Malia had been too distracted with helping her friends collect their belongings to pay any attention to her, but once they were gone in July Zi began speaking to her. Small things at first, like giving Malia paper when she forgot some or helping her with a math problem. By August Malia knew they were friends. Malia thought it was odd, having friends outside of her pack. Liam and Hayden didn’t seem to trust her and Zi didn’t trust them either. Corey and Mason liked her just fine, but Malia didn’t feel comfortable integrating Zi into what was left of her pack. It was too broken, too fresh. 

Zi leaned against Malia’s side and shook her out of her thoughts. “You okay, coyote?”

Malia sighed and stared at their reflections in the mirror. Her face was solemn and her heart felt lost. “I guess.”

Zi huffed and grabbed her arm. “Leave that shit there, let’s go to my house.” 

Leaving school and its oppressive energy was the best idea she’d ever heard. They ran through the huge blue doors and chased each other to Zi’s house, though Malia couldn’t run full speed with her. Zi’s home was large and covered in flowers, which Malia had learned Zi had grown herself, using what she called pixie dust. 

Magic was nothing new to Malia, after all she still had Deaton around, but knowing another druid had added to her knowledge about what they were capable of. Zi’s parents gave thinly veiled glares as they passed by, and Zi glared back while saying hello. They didn’t answer. Zi’s parents had tried to keep her from the supernatural by dragging her from her pack in Maryland to the town of Beacon Hills. Malia had burst with laughter when Zi had told her that they thought Beacon Hills was a quiet town. Now Zi was hanging out with a were-creature again and they hated it and Malia. 

“Have you thought about what I said?” Zi asked, her brown eyes flickering to Malia’s as she closed the door. Malia flopped onto the fluffy bed and groaned into a pillow. Zi had decided to go back to her pack and escape to Maryland once she finished summer school. Her pack had been enrolled in the University of Maryland, and she had been accepted on the promise she’d get at least B’s in all her summer classes. She had A’s. Surprisingly, so did Malia. 

Zi had asked Malia to join her and her pack. Her brain had viscerally rejected the idea. Her pack was here. This is where she’d grown up, where her father was and her friends. 

Then she remembered it wasn’t. 

Malia flicked her phone on and saw what she had seen most days since July. No messages. Every once in a while she’d get one from Scott, or Derek. The only one who consistently sent her texts was Kira. Besides the sophomores she was the only real connection she felt with her pack. But was it enough? Couldn’t she just be friends with Kira and let the pain the others were causing her go?

She pushed herself up on her knees and watched Zi. She was picking up clothes and putting them into a bin, leaving Malia to her thoughts. Zi hadn’t pushed the idea on her. She just listened to Malia when she talked about her friends, or when she cried when she saw them living their lives without her on facebook. 

Her gut, on the other hand, had burst with joy at the chance of a new start. And hadn’t Stiles always told her to trust her human instincts? 

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it a lot,” Malia said and Zi turned and looked at her, smiling. She smelled like hope and nerves, and she bit her lip. 

“Yeah?” 

Malia nodded, leaning her back against the ornate backboard. “I’m going with you when we graduate.”


	2. Chapter 2

The years went by slowly at first, Malia felt like she lived between two worlds. The only ones who came to visit her in Maryland were Kira and Derek, and Derek was there because he was family. Her pack was always too busy, and the sophomore’s had no cars. By her own sophomore year she barely spoke with anyone besides her father and Kira. She became closer and closer with the Darby pack instead. By junior year she almost assumed herself to no longer be a part of the McCall pack. She was simply an ally. The Darby pack happily accepted her into their ranks. 

Lynne Darby had bright brown eyes, curly black hair and dark brown skin. She was the alpha, a born wolf, getting a degree in astrophysics. She was boisterous, fearless, and ambitious. She was a painter and was loyal on par with Scott. Lynne sat on a bed in their shared apartment. 

Zi Wen, her druid friend, was getting a degree in Botany. She sat with her head tilted back as Malia bleached her hair, running her fingers through her locks. 

Cassidy Stanley, a bitten beta wolf, had long blonde hair, glowing blue eyes and pale skin. She was quiet and eccentric, liking to keep to her pack. She was sly and liked building things, so her degree was in engineering. She sat next to Lynne and they chatted about what classes they would sign up for as seniors. 

Labib Alvi was sprawled on the floor next to Malia and Zi, his green eyes watching Malia’s hands heal and burn over and over. He was in medical school, so their healing abilities mystified him. He was from Pakistan and had flowing brown hair. He was caring and kind, offsetting Zi’s brunt harshness. He was human, but dependable and smart. 

“Who wants to go on a road trip this summer?” He offered, wiggling his eyebrows and grinning excitedly. 

“Where would go?” Cassidy asked, leaning over Lynne to stare at Labib. He laughed and shrugged, glancing at Malia. 

Labib reached out to touch Zi’s hair before Malia smacked it away. “Anywhere we want!” Labib said. 

“Sounds good to me,” Zi said, sticking her head underwater to wash out the bleach. 

“We could go to Colorado! I love it there,” Lynne said while she pushed Cassidy off of her. 

“So it’s settled? Colorado?” Labib said giddily. He sat up and brushed off his jeans. 

Malia thought about how Derek lived in Colorado with Braeden, of how she hadn’t seen him since February. She handed Zi a towel and glanced at her pack. “I’m in.” 

“Me too.” 

“Me three!”

Lynne pretended to be put off by their request, dramatically lying in Cassidy’s lap. “I guess I have no choice…”

Malia rolled her eyes and walked over to grab a bag from under her bed. “Let’s start packing then, losers.”

She pulled clothing into her bag without folding them as the others dispersed to their rooms. As she got to the bottom of her drawer something caught her eye. A photo from 4 years ago stared back at her. Scott had his arms slung around her shoulder and Stiles’s, Lydia was kissing Kira’s cheek. Liam and Mason made funny faces while Hayden and Corey mocked them. It burned her lungs; she was frozen to the floor. Slowly, she picked it up and placed in in her bag, unsure of why. She glanced up and Lynne was watching her, concerned. Malia waved her off and continued packing, but her world was off kilter.


End file.
